On Saturday, June 22, Stone Church Arts presents “They,” a duo consisting of Berklee College of Music students AC Muench and Oliver Esposito.
The live concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Chapel at Immanuel Episcopal Church, 20 Church St.
On mandolin, guitar, piano, and vocals, Esposito, formerly known as “B,” has played with Amos Lee, Langhorne Slim, Chris Thile, Mary Gauthier, and as a solo artist, and has released a CD of original music produced by Neilson Hubbard.
Says Langhorne Slim, “Rarely have I come across one who is both virtuosic and profoundly raw and soulful at the same time. Oliver's got it. It's mind blowing to watch, spiritually elevating to play along with, and damn exciting to see what this incredible human has in store for us all.”...
All the food we eat comes with a carbon footprint. According to The New York Times's Climate Fwd: newsletter, “[a]bout a quarter of all planet-warming greenhouse gasses emitted each year are a result of how we feed the world.” Another 8 percent of greenhouse gases are the direct result...
All Souls Church will host a screening and discussion of the new National Geographic documentary, Paris to Pittsburgh, on Monday, June 24, at 6:30 p.m. preceded by a potluck at 6 p.m. The church is presenting the film, and panel discussion to follow, in cooperation with Vermont Interfaith Power...
Beginning on June 9, which happens to be International Children's Day, and culminating on June 16, Fathers Day, a Week of Action was held at the “emergency influx facility for migrant youth” in Homestead, Fla. The administration's inhumane treatment of asylum seekers coming across the southern border includes isolating children younger than 18 years old and placing them in “detention centers.” The largest such center is a for-profit facility at the former Homestead Air Force Base. Since it is on...
Voters approved a resolution at this year's Annual Representative Town Meeting to allocate $15,000 to create a Town Arts Fund. This resolution came about in response to persistent concerns over the past decade expressed by members of the arts community that such a critical contributor to Brattleboro's identity as its artists and arts organizations ought to receive town support and be part of the budget. The working group that brought the proposal before Town Meeting has expanded and now includes...
The Board of Directors of the Colonial Theatre announced its intention to transform the 95-year old live performance and film venue into a world-class Colonial Performing Arts Center, offering expanded opportunities and greater accessibility to performers, audiences, and students. “The Colonial is a proven success story in advancing the arts and economic prosperity of our region. This project positions the Colonial for its second century as a Keene Main Street gem, serving the Monadnock Region,” Board Chair Abigail Abrash Walton...
I suspect that if someone suggested at any time in the past that the Strolling of the Heifers Expo would be better if it were all squeezed onto the Town Common, such a notion would have been instantly and summarily dismissed with a great guffaw. It would have been considered next to impossible and not worth the effort to even think about. Then the Brattleboro Retreat decided that it could no longer tolerate an entire day of tumult on its...
I don't like the tactics of 17-year-old Rio Daims, who kept heifers waiting on hot pavement during last weekend's parade “die-in.” But what is her father, who isn't quoted and whose decade-old activism is unrelated, doing in your story? Sometime last century, newspapers started covering women in the news without mentioning their husbands. Will today's child activists get that much respect?
College news • The following local students at the Community College of Vermont earned associate degrees at the College's 52nd commencement on June 1: Kathleen T. Bashaw, Elisha J. Bebey, and Joshua Gammon of Bellows Falls; Alyssa C. Corey, Matthew L. Delgatto, Bethany R. Howe, Margo C. Lafland, Amy E. Mulherin, Trina L. Reynolds, Alisha M. Scudder, Tifani L. Tasca, and Emmalee A. Waite of Brattleboro; Abigail L. Maken of Brookline; Mary A. Thompson of Grafton; Luke F. Cevoli of...
Southern Vermont Therapeutic Riding Center has been named one of the finalists for the Red Sox Foundation's Impact Awards. The program provides Red Sox fans in the five New England states outside of Massachusetts with the opportunity to vote for their favorite local nonprofits to decide which organizations will be awarded grants. The Impact Awards this year are focused on organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to improving health and wellness outcomes in their communities. Fans can vote for the...
Write Action announced its annual Poetry and Prose Writing Contest. There is no theme this year. Entries in poetry and prose will be judged anonymously. The first-place winners in each category will be awarded $100, second-place winners get $50, and third-place winners $25 each. All will have the opportunity to read at this year's Literary Festival. Each category will be judged by an esteemed writer from the Vermont writing community. Eligible writers must live in southern Vermont or the tri-state...
Mrowicki, Hashim to hold listening session PUTNEY - With the completion of the 2019 legislative session, Windham 4 state Reps. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney, and Nader Hashim, D-Dummerston, will hold a gathering for local constituents at the Putney General Store upstairs space on Thursday, June 20, from 6 to 7 p.m. They will welcome questions, comments, or suggestions about this session and looking ahead to 2020. All are welcome. For more information, email [email protected] or [email protected]. Choruses join voices to welcome...
The End of America plays Stage 33 on Friday, June 21. Izzy Heltai opens. James Downes, Trevor Leonard, and Brendon Thomas made their debut as The End Of America at the 2016 Philadelphia Folk Festival and were voted Favorite New Artist. In 2017, the band won the Emerging Artist Showcase at Falcon Ridge Folk Fest, returning the next year as the Most Wanted Band. Since then, they've performed festivals, theaters, and clubs east to west, sharing stages with artists like...
Modern Times Theater will present The Perils of Mr. Punch, Episode #211: “The Astro-Nut” on Saturday, June 22, at 1 p.m., at the Dummerston Community Center, 150 West St. The show is free and appropriate for all ages. The Perils of Mr. Punch follows the troubles and travails of puppetry's favorite loudmouths, Punch and Judy. In the latest episode, Mr. Punch attempts to be the first puppet to go into space. Of course, nothing ever goes right - his wife,
The annual “Concerts on the Green” summer concert series, held on the town green in Walpole, will kick off on Sunday, June 23, with the Amherst (N.H.) Town Band. All shows will be held rain or shine on Sundays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to pack a picnic basket and bring a blanket and/or lawn chair. The eight-concert series continues with the Springfield (Vt.) Community Band on June 30, the Keene American Legion Band on July 7,
Main Street Arts will present the edgy musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch as part of its upcoming Great River Theater Festival, July 5-7 in Saxtons River. Billed by Entertainment Weekly as “viciously funny, wildly innovative, and occasionally heartbreaking,” the rock musical by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask tells the story of transgender punk-rock singer Hedwig's search for stardom and love while dealing with a botched sex-change operation as she tours the U.S. with her band. “It's certainly not...
The Brattleboro Music Center and Retreat Farm are launching a new summer concert series. “Music Under the Stars” will include two free concerts in July and August and culminate in a performance by the Windham Orchestra in September to celebrate the fall equinox and the Orchestra's 50th anniversary. “The BMC is delighted to begin what we hope will be a long partnership with Retreat Farm,” BMC Managing Director Mary Greene said in a news release. “It is a pleasure to...
Orly Munzing, founder of Strolling of the Heifers, is quoted [Brattleboro Reformer, June 11] as saying that Strolling of the Heifers is intended to be “a tribute to the area's agricultural heritage.” Why, then, I wonder, does the Stroll make no connection to the Saturday Farmers' Market - surely the iconic local manifestation of our living “agricultural heritage”? Not a single mention of it in the Stroll supplement in the Commons - not even encouragement to use the shuttle bus,
I am one of the invisible signees of the published letter. What surprises me about the response to our letter is that the means of expressing our concerns seems to be more important to this community than the message we tried to convey. In our businesses, we hear from customers that they are uncomfortable and are in no hurry to come back to town. Anyone who believes we do not have skin in the game needs to think again. We...
Hello and good day to you, southern Green Mountain state dwellers! We've got a dynamic week of weather ahead, so let's jump right in and paint the salient daily points of note. For Wednesday, just an isolated shower or thunderstorm is possible within the context of a mostly cloudy day, but Thursday and Friday will feature a rather dramatic and shifting set of weather conditions. Strong low pressure drives east through New England Thursday evening, bringing showers, downpours and thunderstorms,
Vermont still ranks at the top of the annual Strolling of the Heifers Locavore Index, meaning that it has the strongest producers and consumers of local food of any of the 50 states. However, the rest of the Index has been considerably shaken up by new data derived from the recent Census of Agriculture, conducted by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The Index has been published annually since 2012 by Strolling of the Heifers, a non-profit food advocacy organization.
Six new exhibits open at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center on Saturday, June 22, at 11 a.m. An opening reception, free and open to all, will take place the same day at 5:30 p.m. Many of the exhibiting artists are expected to attend. The new exhibits include the summer-themed “Ocean's Edge,” consisting of three artists' depictions of life at the beach; a retrospective of the work of social documentary photographer and activist Dona Ann McAdams; new installations by Barbara...
The care and restoration of wooden heirlooms and historic architectural woodwork will be the topic at a slide-illustrated workshop Wednesday, June 26, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Bellows Falls Waypoint Center. Guest speaker Jonathan Schechtman, master craftsman, furniture conservator, and proprietor of Meeting House Furniture Restoration in Quechee will offer expert advice on caring for and conserving antique wooden heirlooms and interiors. Schechtman's slide presentation will illustrate antique furniture restoration procedures, followed by one-on-one advice to those who...
Over the course of the past few years, the town of Brattleboro has seen an unfortunate rise in addiction and poverty, affecting many of our lives. We at the Co-op have experienced this firsthand, as addiction has deeply affected our staff, family, and friends. The experience of walking in downtown Brattleboro is not unlike that in many other towns and cities. From Greenfield to Burlington to Bennington, we are seeing and feeling the same effects of an economic, political, and...
Numerous sites around Windham County will be participating in the Summer Food Service program, which provides meals for eligible children 18 and under, free of charge. Children who are part of the households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps, known as 3SquaresVT in Vermont) benefits, or benefits under the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF known as ReachUp in Vermont) are automatically eligible to receive free meals. Meals...
In last week's “Here We Are” column, “Compassionate creativity everywhere,” Kali Quinn told interviewer Wendy O'Connell: “One of the pieces that I do actually looks at a local woman and friend, Rupa Cousins, and the end of her life.” The original broadcast was transcribed incorrectly, and the online version of this story has been corrected.
“Some locals claim that individuals are collecting from $250 to $400 or more per person per day.” Wow! Where do I sign up? Homelessness isn't necessarily a result of drug-and-alcohol-induced behaviors. A sober friend recently became homeless when his landlord sold the house. He couldn't find a suitable accommodation in Brattleboro and was living in his car. He's now working and living in Lebanon, N.H. The opioid epidemic could be ended overnight simply by legalizing these drugs. This strategy has...
The baby chicks in the middle school science classroom chirped and chattered at the back of the classroom where the Windham Southeast School District's school board held the first of two informational meetings on June 11. Fewer than 10 people - scarcely more than the six birds in the classroom - attended the hour-long meeting at Dummerston School. Board chair Kristina Naylor introduced the school district's first combined budget for the newly created Windham Southeast School District for the 2020...
On a 508-166 vote - a margin of more than 3:1 - residents of Brookline, Jamaica, Newfane, Townshend, and Windham rejected placing Windham as a pre-kindergarten-through-grade-12 member of the West River Education District. Despite the landslide vote against the town's status as a full member town - a vote that, for all intents and purposes, preserves the status quo - work continues for the town of fewer than 400 people. A second vote on whether to release the town from...
The fifth annual Brattleboro on Wheels car show, presented by the Brattleboro Rotary Club in conjunction with the Now & Then Car Club, will be held Saturday, June 29, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Retreat Farm on Route 30 just north of town. Admission to the grounds is free, both for show cars and spectators. Donations are appreciated. Admission is charged for the Retreat Farm's petting zoo. All makes and models of cars, motorcycles, and bicycles are...
The Saxtons River Watershed Collaborative organized a riparian buffer tree planting on June 6 along the Saxtons River with its partners, the Windham County Natural Resource Conservation District, the town of Grafton, Grafton Elementary School, and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. With shovels in hand, 53 community volunteers, Grafton town representatives, and students and staff from Grafton Elementary School planted native trees and shrubs on a town-owned property. According to a news release, this planting represents a culmination of...
Thanks and kudos to Orly Munzing, Erin O'Connor, and all the folks who made the Strolling of the Heifers parade such a success! We marched as part of the Climate Coalition, a new entry that included Extinction Rebellion, 350.org, MotherUp, Brattleboro School of Dance, Post Oil Solutions, and The Climate Queens. The aim of the Climate Coalition was to raise awareness about the climate crisis in a positive, regenerative manner. Our Extinction Rebellion chapter (which served as permit holder for...
The Wellness Committee of the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union is launching Let's Read 2019, a community reading initiative, during the summer and fall of 2019. All members of the communities of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Vernon ages 9 and up are encouraged to participate. Let's Read 2019 will feature The Benefits of Being an Octopus by local author Ann Braden. This book is appropriate for children in fourth grade and up, as well as adults. Several events - including...
I'll be honest. Summer youth baseball in Brattleboro is my favorite time on the sports calendar. The Brattleboro Little League is wrapping up its regular season this week and has picked its All-Star teams for the 10-, 11-, and 12-year-old tournaments. The Babe Ruth Baseball state tournaments for the 13-15-year-old All-Stars are just around the corner. And, for the high schoolers, there's American Legion Baseball, and Post 5's annual seven-week dash to the state tournament at the end of July.
On Tuesday, June 25, voters of the Windham Southeast School District will consider a funding amendment to the proposed merged $50 million fiscal year 2020 budget. The Brattleboro Town School District is supporting a motion to add $100,000 to the district budget to expand and support the work of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice. “The work of creating an equitable school system has been underfunded for years,” said David Schoales. Schoales, the chair of the Town School...